This invention relates to a recreational vehicle or camper with a pivotal cover panel of a type which in a normal closed position thereof lies over a substantially rectangular opening in the roof of the vehicle and can be moved by pivotal movement from the closed position to an open position in which the cover panel is inverted and extends outwardly to one side of the vehicle from one side edge of the opening. An enclosure member including a flexible cover fabric is secured by lower edges of the fabric to the vehicle at the opening and to the cover panel and includes a suitable support structure for the cover fabric so that it extends when erected in an arch construction over the opening and over the panel to allow access from inside the vehicle to the upper surface of the panel in the open position thereof.
Devices of this type are particularly but not exclusively used for opening roof sections of a van or similar device in which the cover panel normally closes the van top but can be opened and pivoted out to one side to define a cantilever deck with the enclosure defining a tent section enclosing the deck and an area thereabove allowing the accessibility through the opening in the roof of the van to the deck for example as a sleeping area. The device thus serves the purpose both of lifting the roof section of the van to a height above its normal height for example for standing within the van and in addition defines ana additional area of the van which can be used generally as a sleeping area outside the normal van area but fully enclosed within the construction.
One example of a device of this general type is shown in European patent publication number 0090487 first published as an application in October 1983. The above patent showed for the first time the construction of a device of this type in which the cover panel when inverted in the open position has supported solely from the vehicle construction in cantilever manner by support hoops and cable arrangements.
This device while being a significant improvement over prior art arrangements does however have the disadvantages that it required an initial crown piece to be attached to the roof of the vehicle so as to define a straight line on the vehicle which can provide the hinge about which the cover panel moves. It will be appreciated that in most vehicles of this type there are no straight lines in the vehicle roof construction and hence the formation of a straight hinge axis which is rigidly coupled to the vehicle is difficult and requires additional pieces. In addition the provision of the additional piece and its attachment to the cover panel requires that the cover panel in the open position pivots to a low height relative to the height of the vehicle.
It is one object of the present invention therefore, to provide an improved construction of a vehicle of this general type which enables the cover panel to be coupled to the rood in a manner which avoids the direct hinged coupling thereof thus overcoming the above disadvantages.
According to the invention, therefore, there is provided a camper device comprising a body having sides, an end and a roof and having a substantially rectangular opening in the roof defined by two pairs of spaced and parallel longitudinally extending side edges, a cover panel having a closed position in which it lies on the roof covering the opening, pivot mounting means mounting the cover panel for pivotal movement about an axis along one side edge of the opening from said closed position covering the opening to an open position in which the cover panel is inverted and extends outwardly to one side of the vehicle from said one side edge, and an enclosure member including a flexible cover fabric secured by lower edges thereof to the vehicle at the opening and to the cover panel and support means for the cover fabric such that extends in an arch construction over the opening and the panel to allow access to an upper surface of the panel in the open position thereof from the opening, characterized in that said pivot mounting means includes a first pair of levers attached to said cover panel at spaced positions therealong for pivotal movement relative thereto about an axis parallel to said side edge, a second pair of levers attached to said roof at spaced positions therealong for pivotal movement relative thereto about an axis parallel to said side edge and coupling means for pivotally connection said first pair of levers to said second pair of levers for pivotal movement about an axis parallel to said one side edge whereby said pivotal movement of said cover panel is provided without the necessity of a direct hinge connection between the cover panel and the roof.
Preferably the construction includes a cable or cables which extend from the vehicle to the outer edge of the cover panel and are raised away from the pivot axis by the levers and coupling arrangement so that the cables, levers and coupling arrangement act as a cantilever construction to support the cover panel in its open position.
Preferably at the same time the weight from the cover panel is applied to the levers to hold the first and second pairs of levers apart in the open position so that the edge of the cover panel adjacent the roof is supported outwardly away from the roof without the necessity for any direct coupling or direct supporting engagement between the roof and the cover panel.
Preferably the coupling means includes a third pair of levers and a fourth pair of levers with the third pair of levers being pivotally coupled to the first pair of levers for movement about an axis on said first pair of levers at an intermediate point along the length thereof and the fourth pair of levers coupled to the second pair of levers for pivotal movement relative thereto about an axis intermediate the length of the second pair of levers, the third and fourth pair of levers being interconnected for pivotal movement about an axis intermediate the first and second pairs of levers such that the third and fourth pairs of levers hold apart said first and second pairs of levers in said open position. This arrangement can provide a particularly effective lever construction in which the outer ends of the third and fourth levers provides the support for the cables while the weight from the roof panel is transmitted through the third and fourth levers to hold the first and second levers apart thus holding the cover panel away from the roof construction. This lever arrangement also enables the cover panel to be moved to the closed position about an imaginary pivot axis between the cover panel and the roof construction without any direct contact between the cover panel and the roof construction occurring during any part of the movement.
The use of the indirect hinging arrangement defined by this invention enables a sealing between the cover panel and the roof to be significantly improved since the cover panel is free to be pulled down along four sides onto the roof construction against a suitable sealing strip without the inhibition of a rigid hinge line which would inhibit movement toward the sealing strip. In this way an improved air tight seal can be obtained between the cover member and the roof construction which is of course very important when the vehicle is moving rapidly and generating high speed air currents across the roof construction.
The use of the indirect hinging arrangement using levers enables the lengths of the levers to be selected to position the cover panel at different spacing from the side of the opening in its open position. Thus, the height of the cover panel can be varied to give for example improved over head clearance for a person standing underneath the inverted cover panel. Alternatively, the spacing of the edge of the panel from the side edge can be increased in cases where the cover panel is small, with an additional fold out flap being provided to bridge the space between the cover panel and the side edge giving an increase in the effective size of the cover panel.
With the foregoing in view, and other advantages as will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates as this specification proceeds, the invention is herein described by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, which includes a description of the best mode known to the applicant and of the preferred typical embodiment of the principles of the present invention, in which: